Suggestions for October?

[wushijiao]

In any case, what suggestions are there for October? 余华 (author of "To Live" "活着") has a new book called 兄弟. Here is an article about it in 南方周末:

http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/zm/2...00509080086.asp

I think this book could be interesting, and it is 256 pages, which is more manageable. That comes out to about 8.5 pages per day.

It seems to be online here at:

http://book.kanunu.cn/html/2005/0817/848.html

http://book.sina.com.cn/nzt/lit/brothers/index.shtml

Are there any other suggestions for books to read?

It would be nice to decide fairly soon so that people can get a head start.

[badatpool]

and it is 256 pages, which is more manageable

er...it's not 256 pages only, it's just first part.

[wushijiao]

That's true. It's only the first part, but still.

[in_lab]

I tried to find out when the second half of the book will be coming out. One site said next month, another site said next year.

What about 活著? Already read it?

[wushijiao]

What about 活着? Already read it?

I've already read that (in fact, it was the first book I read in Chinese). I also read 许三观卖血记,and half of 在细雨中呼喊. Although it took me three months to read, 活着, I thought, was excellent. 许三观卖血记 was also good, but it did seem to follow a bit of the same format as 活着．　I didn't find 在细雨中呼喊 to be very hard, as far as vocabulary, but I got bored with it midway, perhaps because it was too sentimental for me.

In any case, I think both 活着 or 兄弟 would be good choices. I think if one is looking to read one's first book in Chinese, 活着 is a great place to start. 兄弟 might be good as well because it is a hot selling book, and it deals with the good old fashion issues of sex and violence. If it's good, we could always read the second half when it comes out.

What would you personally prefer in_lab?

[in_lab]

I'm going to read 活著 whether it's a book of the month or not. 兄弟 is fine, except for the fact that we would have to wait for the next volume to come out. That's not a major objection. It looks like I can buy it without ordering from China (fingers crossed). (I'm in the middle of an order now, and it's been 50 days and counting.)

I was just talking to a coworker, trying to get some suggestions. I don't want to make any suggestions until I do some more research because I'm afraid I'll recommend something not worth reading. From China, would there be any problem getting books by current Taiwanese authors, like 侯文詠, for example?

[leprechaun]

thanks for e online versions. i could certainly use some chinese stuff =)